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Justice News

Former Bennington City Clerk Sentenced in Two Embezzlement Cases

TOPEKA, KAN. - A former city clerk for the city of Bennington, Kan., was sentenced Monday to a total of 16 months in federal prison in two separate cases of interstate transportation of embezzled funds, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said. She also was ordered to pay $184,000 in restitution.

In the first case, Janetta Marie Buttery, 42, Bennington, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen funds. In her plea, Buttery said she served as city clerk from October 2014 to May 2016 and left the position before the city discovered the crime. In her position as clerk she had access to credit cards belonging to the city and the city’s Recreation Commission. She used the cards to make unauthorized payments totaling more than $75,000.

In the second case, Buttery pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of embezzled funds while she worked as secretary, bookkeeper and executive assistant to the owner of Realty Associates in Salina, Kan. She embezzled more than $79,000 in the company’s funds to make payments on personal debts belonging to herself and her family members.

Beall commended the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Rich Hathaway for their work on the case.